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Thursday, April 28, 2016

I bought a whole pineapple. At first, I just ate slices of
it. Then I put it into stir-fry. Now it’s time for something different. This
cake makes you wait for it, but oh! It’s worth it!

For the Cake:

2 teaspoons flax seed meal

1 TBLSP water

¼ cup shredded coconut

5 TBLSP non-dairy milk, divided (I like almond, but coconut
would be great)

5 TBLSP chopped pineapple (I used fresh, but canned—crushed—is
fine)

¾ cup all-purpose or whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Large pinch of salt

3 TBLSP vegan butter

5 TBLSP granulated sugar

Slosh of vanilla

For the Icing:

3 TBLSP vegan
butter

1 cup powdered
sugar, sifted

¼ teaspoon of
vanilla extract

1 teaspoon
almond milk

1 cup flaked
coconut

TBLSP chopped
pineapple for decoration

Make the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 5-inch
cake pan or two ramekins. I used two single-serving casserole dishes to get wider
and flatter cakes.

In a small bowl (like a cereal bowl—you’ll be adding things
to this mixture), combine the flax seed meal and water. It will become a nice
gloppy mess while you do other things.

Put the ¼ cup of coconut into a mesh strainer and dangle the
darlings over a bowl.

Bring ¼ cup of the milk (4 TBLSP) to a boil in a small sauce
pan. Pour the hot milk over the shredded coconut, catching the liquid in the
bowl below. Plop the pineapple on top of the coconut and let its juice drain
through too. You might want to squish things around a bit to get the most juice.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Now it’s time to use your flax seed glop. Add the remaining
TBLSP of milk to the glop and give it a stir. Now add in the butter, sugar, and
vanilla extract. Cream all of this mess together until it’s a gloppy but thin
mixture and the butter has integrated, for the most part. If you’re doing this
by hand, it won’t be completely smooth, and if you use a mixer, the flax glop
will break down a bit if you keep going until it’s smooth. <shrugs> You
choose whether you want chunks of buttery goodness or a softer and more
delicate cake.

Add the coconut milk and pineapple juice that you collected
to the flour mixture and toss in the butter and flax seed mixture too. Blend until
well combined. (You can beat this enthusiastically to get out a few more of the
butter lumps, too.) Add in the coconut and pineapple that you’d drained
earlier, and mix until just incorporated. Pour evenly into the two prepared
cake pans.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow the cakes to cool completely on a wire rack (about 45
minutes if the day isn’t too warm), and then refrigerate for at least 2 hours
before frosting. Overnight is fine too. I leave ‘em in the pans until the
refrigeration period is over because they’re sturdier then and less likely to
crumble when you remove ‘em to the decorating plate.

Make the Icing:

Cream the butter in
a small bowl. Keep going until it starts to seem a bit fluffy. Don’t shirk.
This is an important step.

Add the powdered
sugar two TBLSPs at a time, blending until the sugar is well-integrated.

Add the vanilla
extract and the soymilk, stirring with considerable enthusiasm until the
frosting is smooth, fluffy, and spreadable.

The frosting may need a few minutes to cool down so it
doesn’t slide off your cake. You might even put it into the refrigerator for 10
minutes or so.

Festoon the Cake:

Put the cake on a pedestal (I overturn a mug and put a
serving plate on top) so you can get a good angle for decorating the cake.

Center the bottom layer on the plate and then top with frosting.
You don’t need to go quite to the edges as the weight of the other cake will
push the frosting out a bit. Place the second layer on top and then frost the
top and sides of the whole shebang. You don’t have to be tidy because the next
step will cover up any crimes.

Sprinkle the flaked coconut (from the Icing ingredient list)
on top of the frosting and press it into the sides of the cake. Make a pretty
design or just plop the remaining pineapple on top of the cake.

Thursday, April 21, 2016

One day, it was too hot to cook, and my fridge was
nearly bare of things to eat cold or raw. What to do, what to do? Oh, of
course! Sushi! It involves a little cooking to make the rice, but then you can
get out of the kitchen until everything has cooled down.

½ cup
sushi rice (small grain, white rice)

1 cup
of water

1
teaspoon granulated sugar

1/8
cup rice vinegar

Nori
sheets for wrapping makis

1
banana, cut in half width-wise and then each half sliced into three narrow
strips

Cook the rice in the water. Watch it, because small amounts
of rice like this will suddenly be cooked and burning! Put the cooked rice into
a medium-sized bowl.

Combine the vinegar and sugar in a small bowl. Pour the
vinegar solution over the cooked rice, smooshing the vinegar into the rice with
the paddle in a sweeping motion. Make wide Zs over and over in the rice,
occasionally bringing the bottom rice up to the top until it’s thoroughly
combined and the vinegar is absorbed.

Wait until the rice is COMPLETELY COOLED.

Tra-la-la

Place a sheet of nori squarely on a sushi-rolling mat covered
with plastic wrap. Make a little line of rice along the bottom of the nori
sheet, about 1-inch wide by ¼-inch high. There can be a little gap at the
bottom edge.

Onto that, pile the banana along the length of the rice
pile, then little blobs of cream cheese, then the tofu, and then sprinkle on
the nuts.

Add another thin layer of rice, moisten the other edge of
the nori with a bit of smooshed rice, and roll the little darling up, using the
sushi mat.

Repeat with the remaining ingredients. There will be two
delicious rolls.

Cover the rolls with plastic wrap (you can take the stuff
off of your mat and use that, if you’re tidy about it). Just lay the rolls on
the wrap and then bring the rest of the wrap around to cover them. They don’t
have to be tightly wrapped, just covered, top and bottom. Using a very sharp
knife that has been dipped into cold water, slice the rolls in half width-wise,
and then cut each of those halves twice more until you have eight coin-shaped
slices from each roll.

Thursday, April 14, 2016

These little filled balls are super filling—they’re
metaballs! I thought about making a salad to go with them, but in the end, they
were so filling I’d have put the salad back in the fridge.

Makes 5 or 6.

½ cup non-dairy milk

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon of baking powder

Pinch of sea salt

Peanut oil (or canola)

8 ounces of mushroom—mixed is nice, but anything will do—sliced
or diced

2 slices of onion, diced

2 leaves of bok choy or cabbage, diced

1 clove garlic, peeled and finely diced

½-inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely diced

Several sprigs of cilantro or parsley, diced

1 TBLSP rice wine vinegar

2 TBLSP tamari or soy sauce

2 green onions, sliced small

1 TBLSP sesame seeds, toasted slightly in a dry pan

½ TBLSP sesame oil

2-4 TBLSP protein of some sort (optional), such as beans,
tofu, or brats, diced small

In a small bowl, add the milk, flour, baking powder, and
salt, and stir it into a dough. Let it rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes
to half an hour.

In a frying pan, heat a splash of the oil over medium heat
and toss in the mushrooms and onions and stir fry until they’re golden brown,
about 5 minutes. Add the bok choy or cabbage and stir fry until it’s soft. Now
add in the garlic, ginger, and cilantro.

Add the vinegar and soy sauce, and cook for about 5 more
minutes, until the liquid has boiled away. The mushrooms should be pretty soft
now. Remove from the heat.

Add the green onions, sesame seeds, and sesame oil to the
mushrooms, and set aside. This is the point to add some protein if you wish,
too, like baked tofu, cooked beans, or diced vegan brats.

Dust a surface with flour (I like to use a piece of waxed
paper for easier clean-up, rather than doing this straight on the kitchen
counter), and roll the blob of dough into a thick sausage. Cut it into 6
pieces, roll them into balls, and then flatten them into rounds. I like to make
them about 3-inches in diameter, but it’s up to you how thick or big you make
them. You could also roll the dough flat with a well-floured rolling pin and
cut out neat circles with a cookie or biscuit cutter.

Plop some mushroom mixture into the centers of the 6 pieces
of dough, making sure that there’s a large circle of bare dough around each
mound of mushrooms. Do fill them as full as you can, though. Pull and fold the
edges of the dough over the filling, pinching the edges to make a seal. There
will be extra stuffing, even if you fill the dumplings very full. It will be
nice on scrambled
tofu tomorrow morning.

Place the little darlings on a cabbage or lettuce leaf (to
keep them from sticking to your steamer) or place each in a paper muffin cup
with the scruffier sides of the little orbs down. It doesn’t really matter
much—it’s not for presentation purposes. It’s for anti-stick purposes.

Bring a pot of water to a boil with the steamer already in
place. The water should come up to the steamer but not enter it or bad things
will happen to your buns and their paper wrappers. Place the buns and their
wrappers into the steamer, lower the heat to medium, cover, and steam for about
12 minutes.

Monday, April 11, 2016

I admit that the first time I made this cake, I sat around
making yummy noises all by myself. It’s not a terribly sweet cake, but it’s a
wonderfully fragrant and flavorful cake. This recipe makes two servings, and the
hardest thing about it might be not eating it all at one sitting!

For the Cake:

¼ cup whole wheat pastry

2 TBLSP all-purpose flour

Pinch of cornstarch or arrowroot

3 TBLSP powdered sugar

Pinch baking soda

Shake or two of salt

Zest of ½ an orange

¼ cup orange juice (fresh squeezed is best, but use what
you’ve got)

½ TBLSP vegetable oil

Slosh of apple cider vinegar

Slosh of vanilla extract

For the Glaze:

1 ½ TBLSP powdered sugar

1 ½ teaspoons orange juice

OR

2 TBLSP orange marmalade

1 teaspoon orange liquor

OR

1 teaspoon orange juice

2 TBLSP orange marmalade

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 4-inch
cake tin or two ramekins with parchment, or grease well and dust with flour.

Make the Cake:

In a small bowl, whisk together the flours, starch, sugar,
baking soda, and salt.

Add the zest, juice, oil, vinegar, and vanilla, and mix
until it’s smooth. Pour the batter in the prepared pan.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the
center comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes and remove from the pan. Cool completely
before glazing and slicing.

Make the Glaze:

Combine the ingredients for the glaze of your choice.

If making the second or third options with marmalade, heat
over low heat until it bubbles.

Slather or drizzle over the cake.\

Devour with the ravenous bad manners of a greyhound after an
evening saunter.

Thursday, April 7, 2016

A gentle, not-terribly-sweet breakfast was high on my list
of things to do today. So I whipped up this nice little offering and started my
day with a bite of sunshine.

For the Cake:

5 1/3 TBLSP all-purpose flour

2 2/3 TBLSP rolled oats

Pinch baking powder

Sprinkle of salt

Sprinkle of ground cinnamon

1 1/3 TBLSP (4 teaspoons) coconut oil, melted (or vegan
butter)

1 1/3 TBLSP (4 teaspoons) maple syrup

2 2/3 TBLSP non-dairy milk (I like almond, but they’re all
good)

Juice of one lemon wedge

Slosh of vanilla extract

2 strawberries, chopped

For the Topping:

2 2/3 TBLSP all-purpose flour

½ TBLSP granulated sugar

Sprinkle of cinnamon

Sprinkle of salt

2 teaspoons soft vegan butter (or coconut oil)

For the Glaze:

3 TBLSP confectioner’s sugar

Slosh of non-dairy milk or lemon juice (depending on how
sweet you want it)

Make the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a
single-serving or mini loaf pan or two ramekins.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking
powder, salt, and cinnamon.

In another small bowl, combine the melted coconut oil, maple
syrup, milk, lemon juice, and vanilla.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry, stirring until well
mixed. Fold the strawberries in gently.

Glop the batter into the loaf pan or ramekins. It should be
full almost to the top.

Make the Topping:

In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt,
and butter (or oil). It should be pretty crumbly.

Assemble the Cake:

Sprinkle the topping over the batter and press it gently
into the top. It should almost make a crust.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. The loaf will be quite puffy and
golden brown.

Let it cool before removing from the pan. You can make the glaze
while it’s cooling.

Make the Glaze:

In a small bowl, combine the confectioner’s sugar and milk.
You need to balance the ingredients in such a way that the glaze will hold its
shape but still be thin enough to drizzle on top of the cooled cake.

Drizzle the glaze over the top of the cake. You might want
an open pattern so that you only get a little glaze in each bite, or you might
want it more thickly applied. It’s up to you.

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About Me

I've been a vegetarian in some form or other since I was a teenager. I never liked meat (especially red meat), and I won the battle with my mother when I was 17. Now, back then, you have to realize, it was hard to get tofu or other non-animal proteins in a regular grocery store, so although my general health improved (I stopped getting colds and flus, and I gained enough weight to stop looking like a holocaust survivor), I started having digestive problems.

Western doctors knew even less about nutrition than they know now, Mine suggested that I eat chicken or fish about twice a month to keep my body's own enzymes and acids to a decent level, and then stress wouldn't send me into such a miserable zoo of pain. So I did it. It worked pretty well for quite a while. But in 2006, I went vegan, now that it's easy enough to get non-animal proteins.

Now I'm starting a third blog, on vegan cooking for one (or two). It started with coming home from rehearsal and wanting just one cookie. But then it got fun--what else could I make that didn't involve leftovers, or, in the case of baked goods, guilt for eating the whole batch. And I thought I'd share this collection of recipes that I've accumulated.